A Little Homecoming Doom
by Flame5
Summary: It is Homecoming week in High Skool! Zim, Dib, and Gaz are thrust into a week of skool spirit! Some madness ensues, as you may be able to guess ^_^ Hearts and livers fly on Tuesday!
1. Foundations are Laid on Friday

Author's Note: Yee-hoo! I have returned to writing! I do hope that -some- body missed me ^_^. Anyway, I am starting a new piece, and this one should be acceptable for ff.net. Homecoming is a major part of a student's life where I am, so I figure I can share the madness. I am placing everyone as freshmen, but more importantly, they are in High Skool. Placing everyone in that age group makes the most sense to me. Since they are in High Skool and therefore older, I may have to change what in-character actions would be, for I will assume that the students have matured and developed a bit, is that okies? Blah, why am I still talking?  
  
Disclaimer: I know that I do not own 'Invader Zim', Jhnnen Vasquez does (someone told me that Mr. Vasquez has changed his name's spelling; is this true, or is this person seriously pulling my leg? I am -so- sorry if that person misinformed me). I suppose I should mention 'Nickelodeon' here as well, for they are the ones who have aired it (even tho I have only seen a ton of reruns...grr...). Wow! My disclaimer is way too long! I should really start the real story now ^_^  
  
  
  
A Little Homecoming Doom  
  
  
  
If High Skool ever had a near-pleasurable time, it was in Friday afternoons before dismissal. Zim had grasped the sides of his desk, and was concentrating his vision on the clock. Perhaps if he focused enough, time would move faster. Faster to the end of the week, and faster to the end of the mindless drabble that was class. He began to moan a bit as he strained all of his spare attention on the timekeeper.  
  
"Zim!" Mr. Bitters snapped. Once he had left his first Skool, the alien had thought he had finished with the horrible Ms. Bitters. He was unfortunate enough to have her brother assigned as his new instructor. "I am over here, not on the wall," he reprimanded.  
  
"Yes," the green creature was reluctant to remove his attention from the clock.  
  
A crumpled piece of paper flew through the air, and the projectile hit Zim on his head and landed on his desk. The extraterrestrial turned to face the assailant, Dib. Zim glared at his rival and muttered under his breath, "horrible excuse for earth-stink!"  
  
Mr. Bitters lifted two fingers to his lips and released a shrill whistle. The sharp sound penetrated and hurt the students' ears. "Now that I have your awareness," he solemnly spoke, "I must announce that next week is Homecoming week. At the core of Homecoming, you all do odd things everyday of the week in the name of skool spirit. There will be a Homecoming football game on Friday, and the Homecoming Dance will be Saturday evening. I have completed my quota for the word 'Homecoming' now. Monday is Hat Day. You all will obey the hats! That is all I care to say until I see your doomed souls next time."  
  
"Obey the hats?" Gertrude inquired. "Why should we obey hats when they cannot talk?"  
  
"It is a conspiracy," Dib accused. "They plan on controlling helpless children with inanimate objects!"  
  
"Dib, you are a helpless imp-child," Zim stated. He leapt onto his chair and addressed the class, "besides, you should not waste your time with the 'hat' creatures when you have the mighty ZIM to rule you!" he declared.  
  
"Sit down, Zim," Mr. Bitters grunted and sat behind his desk. "I need my piggies," he murmured to himself. He opened his largest drawer to reveal dozens of pigs. The teacher obviously had adoration for stuffed pigs, toy pigs, and various piggie paraphernalia.  
  
The dismissal bell sounded, and the children scuttled out of the classroom. Freedom at last! And Homecoming to look forward to the next week! The students exited the room and encountered a large banner on the wall on the way to their lockers. It read, "Homecoming Schedule" in neon paint and had a list for all the weekdays.  
  
"Monday: Hatsy day  
  
Tuesday: Dressing-up day / Class Football Game  
  
Wednesday: Carnivalish day  
  
Thursday: Contesting day / Homecoming Parade (late)  
  
Friday: Spirity day / Pep Rally / Football game (evening)  
  
Saturday: Homecoming Dance (evening)"  
  
"Hatsy day?" Zim puzzled over the banner. He shrugged and backed away from the sign, and stepped into another person. "Make way for Zim!" he commanded and spun around to face Dib.  
  
"Since when would an alien care about skool spirit?" Dib teased.  
  
"I care about all the normal concerns of you-" he cringed a bit, "humans do."  
  
Gaz hastily approached the two with a grimace plastered to her face and a Gameslave glued to her hands. "Hurry, Dib. My batteries are about to die," she menacingly urged.  
  
Oblivious to any threats, he continued to badger the Invader. "Really now? Well, then," a little desperate for something to antagonize the alien about, he asked, "who are you taking to the Dance on Saturday?"  
  
"What are you saying, Earth-boy?"  
  
"Your date!" Dib answered with a mocking grin. "It would be completely in- human- not to go to the Homecoming Dance with a date," he jeered.  
  
Zim's eyes bugged out ate the thought of revealing his true nature. Regaining some composure, he huffed, "I will involve myself in this Dance with my dat."  
  
"Date," Gaz grumpily corrected. She glared at Dib to encourage him to leave Zim and head for home.  
  
'A date?' Zim thought to himself, 'I shall have to research this later, for now, it looks like I need a person for a 'date.' A mischievous idea flew into his consciousness. "In fact," Zim spoke with a slightly mirthful tone, "I plan on dating you," he said as he pointed a finger at Gaz. The girl gave a low growl and chopped his finger with the side of her hand. "Hey!" he yelped and pulled his hand back.  
  
Dib softly snorted in amusement at his foe. "Okay, Gaz. Let us go." His sibling muttered a low "finally" and strode with Dib away from Zim and the sign.  
  
The confident alien turned towards the large sign. By now all the students had abandoned the hallway and were either at the lockers or outside of skool. Using a nifty little Irken notepad, he noted the events of Homecoming week and grinned to himself. "You just wait, Dib," he vengefully muttered. In a lighter tone, he continued, "you just wait and see, Gaz. You shall be the datiest date that ever had the pleasure to...well, -date- Zim!"  
  
With a passionate glint in his eye, he strode out of the skool building. The fates of these High Skoolers ensured that Homecoming Week would never be the same.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
Hmm, ok, I will openly admit that this was a rather dull chapter. I seem to have a problem with the starting chapters of my stories. I suppose I shall have to work on that! Until then, please let me promise you that since I now have my foundation laid, I can start to release the, ahem, interesting ideas I have for the students, especially Zim, Dib, and Gaz, plus some other individuals.  
  
By the way, the ownership of Mr. Bitters pigs is similar to a real obsession of one of my teachers ^_^  
  
Okies, I am ending my little shmeal by swearing on all that I can: I will finish "A Little Homecoming Doom", and the following chapters will be better. Yay! 


	2. Odd Events on Hatsy Day Monday

Author's Note: Hummers, I do not have much to say for my note this chapter. I am skipping the weekend and jumping right into Monday. I hope no one minds the time warp ^_~ Oh, and I would like to apologize in advance for any misspelling of names, often if it is over three letters long, I cannot spell names well to save my life. Sorry!  
  
Disclaimer: I do now own 'Invader Zim'. In this chapter, there will be some references and adaptation from some of Act 3 Scene 2 of 'As You Like It', which William Shakespeare wrote, and not me. As a final note, I do not own sticky notes, someone else does! I own nothing at all, yay me! Well, maybe Lex, but it is not like I am going to put a trademark on her or anything. I am too lowly humble for that. I am wasting valuable fiction space!  
  
  
  
A Little Homecoming Doom  
  
  
  
In the Membrane household, a cooked piece of bread popped from the toaster. Gaz snatched the toast and prepared to consume it for breakfast. Monday morning had arrived! Dib gallantly strode into the kitchen with what looked like a giant and black tumor on his head. "Morning, Gaz," he greeted as he dove his head into the refrigerator for some bread.  
  
The sibling grunted in response, then added, "What is that growth on your head?"  
  
Confused, Dib straightened his posture and reached a hand to his head to inspect for this 'growth'. "Oh," he said with relief, "you mean my hat for Hatsy day."  
  
Gaz gave a small snort, "if that is what you want to call it."  
  
Without losing a beat, Dib continued to talk about his headgear. "I made it myself, it took me all weekend! I have equipped it with the alien catching gear that I ordered from Crop Circles Magazine," he gloated. "I -know- I will be able to expose Zim with this," he beamed.  
  
"You spent an entire weekend working on that?" in one of those judging moments, she opened an eye from her squint to peer at her brother.  
  
"Yes, well," he stammered. He supposed he could not have expected a shower of praise from Gaz, but at the same time he did not expect such an unenthusiastic reaction. Fortunately for Dib and his lack of articulation, the doorbell rang. "I will get it," he offered. He did not feel as fortunate when he opened the front door to see two of the Varsity football players looming over him, Vasquez and Russel. "Eep," he squeaked as the athletes presented some rather disturbing items, revealing the purpose of their visit.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
"Run Zim, run Zim, run Zim, run," an Invader panted as he raced down the hall of lockers at skool. Zim had about another half of an hour before another soul would arrive at the building, which gave him plenty of time.  
  
"Here is good," he decided as he jumped next to a wall and slapped a sticky note with writing onto the structure. He ran to the adjacent wall and leapt up and stuck another note onto that wall. "If this is not love, I do not know what is," he stated to himself as he smacked another note to another wall of the skool. He paused for a second and looked at the ceiling above the main intersection of the skool hallway. He sprung up and down a few times to fruitlessly place another note onto the roof of the center of the building. "Daft," he muttered to himself as he released the spider-like legs from his pack and used them to boost him to the top of the intersection.  
  
"Let these lockers be my tongue!" he released a loud battle cry and continued to plant sticky notes in random and frequent places of the High Skool.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
"Stupid, stupid," Dib repeatedly muttered to himself. "Stupid me, now that I mentioned dates at the Homecoming Dance, I have to find one or I will look incredibly dense," he murmured in disdain. "Stupid Zim, I will reveal him," he patted the tumor-like hat on his head.  
  
The Membrane children were making their way to skool, and while Gaz was content playing her Gameslave on the way, Dib was clearly disgruntled.  
  
"Stupid football players," garbled as he glared at the sidewalk he was about to walk on. "And stupid pantyhose!" he roared as he squirmed uncomfortably in his step.  
  
It was the closest that Gaz had ever come to laughing like a maniac.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
Upon reaching the Skool building, Gaz and Dib received some rather funny looks and snickers. Neither of them was really surprised, Dib felt like a living target that morning. However, when one girl whispered to another, "wow, that is Gaz, right there," the Membrane daughter was a little confused. Dib looked like a fool and people were only noticing her?  
  
'What is wrong with everyone?' Gaz inwardly asked herself. She was wearing a purple sequined hat, but that was hardly reason to make her stand out; there were students who were sporting some incredibly bizarre headwear.  
  
"Hey, look over there," Dib pointed to a bright green square on a wall. "Why are there so many sticky notes around here?" he asked no one in particular as he noted the numerous green notes spread on the walls. He hopped underneath one of them and plucked a note from its home above a locker. Dib quickly skimmed the paper and looked up to grin at his sister. "It looks like you have an admirer," he smirked.  
  
His sister snatched the note from his grasp and read it aloud.  
  
"From the east to western Ind, Gaz, a jewel, leaves them behind. If all fine pictures are lined, Gaz's looks leave them behind. No girls ever bear my mind, Gaz will leave them all behind."  
  
Gaz stared at the sticky note in confusion, and finally spoke, "idiotic."  
  
"Really," Dib agreed. Gaz shot him a menacing look, one that told him to just head to class and let her be. Unaware of this, Dib glanced over his sister's shoulder at the poor and pathetic poem and added, "Idiotic or not, I wonder who wrote this."  
  
With impeccable timing, Zim marched to the siblings, unable to remove a victorious smile from his mouth. "Good morning, Gaz," he confidently greeted the girl. She almost pitied his ignorance. "Now that I have expressed my truly honest love, would you like to be my date for the Homecoming Dance?" he elatedly grinned.  
  
"Heh," she curtly laughed at the alien and proceeded to walk to her first class.  
  
Zim determinedly watched Gaz leave, starting to create new ways of convincing her to be his date. "So, where is you hat, Zim?" Dib leered at the distracted Invader.  
  
"Eh?" he absent-mindedly asked as he first recognized that Dib was standing next to him. "Oh, I have brought my hat," he evilly grinned, "and it is much hattier that tumor on your enormous head."  
  
"It is -not- a tumor!" he snapped. "And my head is -not- big!" he finally retorted. "I am a normal and average kid!" he exclaimed.  
  
Zim snorted as he stepped back and surveyed the human boy. It was common knowledge that he had a gigantic head, and today he was wearing a hat that looked more like a swelling of that head. Besides that, he was wearing the most outrageous clothes the alien had ever seen a being wear. Dib was sporting a blue long-sleeved shirt with a yellow tank top over it with the word "sweet" printed on it in multiple bright colors. The tops were adorned with a reddish-pink dance skirt and leopard-printed tights. Zim could not help but snigger when he saw that his amusing outfit was completed with pink sequined high-heeled shoes.  
  
Dib saw Zim snickering at him and frowned. "Someone tagged me, okay?" he defensively cried.  
  
"Tagged?" Zim asked between fits of chuckling to himself.  
  
"Yes, tagged," Dib sighed as he realized that he would have to explain. "Two upperclassmen came to my house today and made me wear these clothes. They are playing a joke with me, okay? I would not normally dress like this! I am just relieved that they forgot to bring make-up," he clarified in an irritated tone.  
  
"Sure," Zim grinned at the boy's expense.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
Mr. Bitters lovingly stroked the head of his favorite stuffed pig. "Well, Piggles, I have to start the class now," he softly spoke to the toy. He looked at the class, and observed that about five of the thirty students were wearing hats, and the Dib-student was wearing quite an amazing ensemble.  
  
"Well, children," he began, "fortunately for you, the Skool board foresaw your lack of skool spirit." He opened a box next to his desk and continued to talk, "and they have provided these Hatsy Day hats for you to wear." He moved around the class and passed hats to all the students who were not wearing one already.  
  
"No!" Dib objected. "You cannot give skool hats! It is a horrible scheme, I swear!"  
  
"Kid," Mr. Bitters turned towards the boy, "no one believed you Friday, and no one will believe you today." Dib cringed at the teacher's bluntness.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
Dib heaved a piteous sigh. Monday sure was horrible this week. First those cruel football players had to tag him. Then people bothered him about his hat, which was a complete failure, when he tried to use the machinery in it against Zim; it malfunctioned, leaving him with an ugly lump on his head. No one listened to him when he warned everyone about the skool hats. Gaz was being extra grumpy because of the attention she was receiving from Zim's sticky notes. To add to the woeful day, lunch was more gross than usual, a Homecoming special.  
  
"Yie!" a girl across the cafeteria shrieked. Dib glanced from his lunch to the screaming girl. She was holding her head and blindly stumbling around the table she was sitting at moments ago. "It is stuck!" she shrieked, and when Dib saw that she was wearing one of the skool's hats, he did not hesitate to grab a small device from his book bag and dash from his location in the room to where she was staggering. Unfortunately, on his way to where she was panicking, he repeatedly tripped over the lady's shoes he was wearing, and by the time he reached her, she appeared to be on the verge of fainting.  
  
"Okay, I am here to help you," Dib comforted, but the girl collapsed into his arms. He placed the gadget he had carried and placed it on the bottom edge of her hat. As she slipped into unconsciousness, Dib then went through such a complex technical process so complex that not even the author knew quite what he was doing. The machine started to fulfill a task on its own, and Dib took the time to recognize whom he was helping. The paranormal boy could remember her being in some of his classes, but the two never tried to get to know each other. She had hair of an extremely dark shade green, and when her eyes were open, they were a chocolate brown.  
  
Suddenly, several more students in skool hats jumped from their seats and shouted in the same way that the girl had done earlier. Within seconds, about eighty percent of the student population was running about in a blind frenzy. One boy knocked the device off of the hat that the girl Dib was trying to help was wearing. "Shrike," he cursed under his breath. "I have to find Gaz," he determined.  
  
Dib stood straight and lifted the girl into his arms. He hurried through the cafeteria, searching for his sister. "Back you horrible worm-babies!" Zim threatened as he swung a baguette at any student who came near him. Dib could perceive Gaz standing behind the alien, amazingly playing her Gameslave and muttering about how none of the chaos had better affect her gaming.  
  
Dib made his way to the pair, while students were noticeably slowing their movements, appearing ready to give way to passing out. "Zim!" Dib called as he approached the defensive alien. Zim looked at Dib as the human advanced, and the Invader smacked Dib on the top of his head with the loaf. "Hey, this is serious," Dib scolded. "I need to help this girl before something happens to her. I tried to free her from the hat, but since I was disrupted, something serious could happen."  
  
"What is wrong with the hats?" Zim eyed the human.  
  
Dib perked a bit at the question, "as I have been trying to tell you all, the skool hats are machines. The skool is using the hats to control unsuspecting students into submission for paranormal activities. We need to free these students before the skool manipulates them, and I need to help this girl here!"  
  
"That sounds like the stupid plot attempt of a piece of fiction," Gaz muttered.  
  
"Indeed. One that was written my some asinine authoress who wants to corrupt innocent readers with accounts of Homecoming nonsense," Zim agreed. That hits way too close to home!  
  
Dib considered this. "Yes, I suppose so...nevertheless, we need to do something."  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
For the first time in a very long while, Lex was absolutely petrified. She was lost in a strange void in which she was completely flummoxed. When she tried to move her arm to look at her hand, the limb felt miles away yet attached to her body at the same time. She had no idea when her eyes were open and when they were closed; for she could feel nothing and either way the world was filled with the same empty darkness.  
  
"You," a strong voice authoritatively commanded. "You must obey," the noise spoke until a soft fizzing interrupted it. In a slightly lighter tone, it continued, "you must obey the duck!"  
  
A high-pitched voice squeaked, "Would you like to buy a duck?"  
  
The first one replied, "Does it quack?"  
  
Lex could sense the higher quality of sound address her. "Does it quack?"  
  
"Yes, it quacks," she uneasily replied. She was surprised at how distant her own speech appeared. She could feel that she was speaking, yet her voice sounded like it was being spoken a great distance above her.  
  
The shrill voice answered the original one, "yes, it quacks."  
  
"Does it have orange feathers?" the deeper voice inquired.  
  
"Does it have orange feathers?" the screechy voice demanded from Lex once again.  
  
"No, it does not have orange feathers." A smile crept across her imperceptible lips, "it has purple feathers with blue stripes."  
  
The lighter voice squealed in excitement and focused on the original one, "no, it has purple feathers with blue stripes."  
  
The first voice paused for a short while and appeared to think about the negotiation. "Can it hug a --?" the question was cut-off by a fizzing noise. This time the sizzling sound was louder and fiercer than the previous.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
Lex opened her eyes to the face of a certain paranormal devotee with a swelling of fabric on his head. "Oh good," the boy indulged in a relieved smile. "Are you all right?"  
  
Lex shakily nodded her head. "Yes, I think so."  
  
"What happened?" Dib asked. "I mean, when you were," he began to stutter, "uhm, you know..." A faint blush rushed to his cheeks. 'Why can I not speak?' Dib mentally asked himself.  
  
"In my head?" the emerald-haired girl offered. It was Dib's turn to silently nod. She lowered her eyelids halfway over her chocolate-brown pupils, "duck haggling."  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"Never mind. What happened-," she faltered, "ha-ppened o-out here?" she stammered. 'What is wrong with my tongue?' Lex questioned herself in her head.  
  
"Can an explanation wait for later?" Zim barged into the uneasy moment. "I just want to be done with this," he grumbled.  
  
"Why is that Zim? Can you not stand helping the -human- race?" Dib regained the confidence in his voice when he taunted the Invader.  
  
"I only did it because I cannot conquer senseless stink-beasts!" he snapped, "Those are of no use to me. I need my minions to be capable," he defended. "Besides," he grinned, "Gaz is a human."  
  
Dib glared at the alien, "Gaz cannot and will not date you."  
  
"What makes you so sure of that, worm-baby?"  
  
"Excuse me!" Lex cut in.  
  
"Oh, Zim here is an alien," Dib stated factually.  
  
Lex blinked and Zim huffed. "I am a normal infantile primate-being!" he claimed.  
  
"Anyway," Lex pleaded, "I still do not know where we are or what is going on. Would someone like to explain?"  
  
"In a seed's crust, the skool tried to brainwash children with hats. We," Zim grinned evilly, "-convinced- the principal to accessing us to the core of the hat's power and stopped further indoctrination of the students. Dib saved you personally with his inferior huma-I mean, his inferior tool," Zim briskly explained. "We are currently underneath the skool building where more of the deprogramming occurred. Satisfied?"  
  
Lex blinked a few more times then exclaimed, "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard."  
  
"Sounds like a moronically cheesy tall-tale, eh?" Dib asked. Lex enthusiastically nodded her head in agreement.  
  
"Now, let us go," Zim ordered. "Gaz is not here, and I am wasting my time in the ground of the skool."  
  
"Right," Dib raised an eyebrow at Zim. "Well, technically the skool day is over, and everyone is okay. I guess that means we can go home now."  
  
"What an incredibly ridiculous end to Hatsy day," Lex grumped.  
  
  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
  
  
Hello hello! I apologize for the corny-ness of the ending of this chapter. I wanted to let Dib be openly correct about something. Unfortunately, it has turned out pretty inane. Ah well, such is life!  
  
As for Lex, I do not want to leave Dib all alone for this story, so I am giving him a romantic interest. Oh-hoo, I sure hope no Dib-fans hate me for this. Lex and her personality are going to be a product of my imagination, so I hope everyone is okay with that!  
  
Let me see, I think that is all I have to say for now. I hope no one is too upset with me for the silly hat plot here, I am sure the next chapter will be more bearable. Thank you for reading so far! Huggles for you! ^_^ 


	3. A Little Love on DressingUp Day Tuesday

Author's Note: Yee-hoo! I have found the time to post another chapter! Yep, yep, small accomplishments mean the world to me. Anyways, I have included songs in this chapter, so brace yourselves. I tried to find songs that might mesh well with the slightly older 'Invader Zim' characters. So, I am crossing my fingers in hopes that this works! Oh, and I want to keep it PG, so if there is a line that I am not too sure about, I may have to alter it a bit. Sorry! As far as romance goes, I will not try to hide the fact that I am a -huge- Shakespeare fanatic, and in Shakespeare one must believe twinkling-of-an-eye changes in character; therefore, please suspend your logically analytical brain cells from working and enjoy the story!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with 'Invader Zim'; so please do not hurt me! Ah, have my repetitious pleas for mercy had any affect yet? Duracell batteries do not belong to me, now that I come to think of it; I am not sure who to give acknowledgment to for those. I also do not own any of the songs in this chapter; I will try to give all the credit that is due at the end of the chapter. As a -truly- final note, I also adapt some more of "As You Like It". All righty!  
  
  
  
A Little Homecoming Doom  
  
  
  
"Hmm," an infamous little alien stroked his chin. Zim slowly paced a few feet in his base, murmuring to no one in particular and poking his head with his finger. He was obviously in a deep contemplation. What could the green creature be concentrating so hard on? "I need an -amazing- ensemble for this Dressing-Uppy Day...or whatever the primates call it." It is nice to control the flow of information.  
  
"Dressing-Uppy Day?" GIR mindlessly repeated. "Wha's at?" It was extremely difficult to hear good grammar from the robot's speech mechanism.  
  
Zim answered the servant with a groan. "It is a day in which filthy students in the atrocious High Skool wear obscurely ridiculous garments to convey a miniscule attempt at expressing 'skool spirit'." The taller alien put two hands on his hips and loomed over the optimistic robot. "Does that explain it?"  
  
"Yes," the metallic voice responded.  
  
"Really?" Zim blinked in surprise at his assistant's understanding.  
  
"No," GIR screeched. "Yes no yes no," the frivolous android continued. The Invader moaned and massaged his superior head. "I wanna be a mongoose!" The line was an obvious addition.  
  
"Mongoose," Zim considered with another thoughtful rub of the lower half of his facade. "Yes."  
  
"Chipmunk!" GIR squeaked.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
"Phft," Gaz snorted as she reread a certain green-tinted note. "This is such lunacy. Yet..." The girl permitted herself to partake in a sigh. She instinctively wanted to crumple all of Zim's idiotic poems and dump them into the nearest garbage can. Another feeling in her, however, wanted to cherish the little futile love notes.  
  
-Why- did she want to preserve the insane declarations of love? They could not possibly mean much, coming from a self-centered alien who wanted nothing more than to conquer her planet. Or did he really want nothing more than that? Did she want him to want more than that?  
  
"This is stupid," she growled. Love was not an indulgence that she or Zim could enjoy. She stood from her bedside and strode to her trash disposal unit. As she extended her arms to toss the writings into the trash, her eyes skimmed a line that the extraterrestrial had written.  
  
"'Sentiments unfelt prior now unfold  
  
Inside me, which did not know this feeling.  
  
Warmth envelops my soul that was once cold  
  
All thoughts of Gaz will send my love reeling."  
  
"A sonnet," Gaz brilliantly concluded. She opened a squinted eye to read the poem in its entirety. "A Shakespearean sonnet!" she spoke in a fuddled manner. "It is not too badly written either. I wonder how I missed it before." The girl aloofly turned from the garbage can and distantly walked to her desk.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
"You look stupider than you did when those guys tagged you," Gaz devilishly grinned.  
  
The Membrane offspring were walking to skool, and Dib was once again in dismay.  
  
"Cruel. You are too cruel," Dib grunted. "Of all the times our father could involve himself in our lives, he decided to dress us in costumes for this dressing day." The poor paranormal devotee was dressed like a giant Duracell battery. He wore a cardboard ring around his neck, and orange and black cloth hung from the disc to form a cylinder around his body. There was orange material on the top portion, and black below, with the words 'It keeps going,' in white letters. "Did not even get the stupid slogan correct," he spurned, "this is the worst week of my life."  
  
"It is not even halfway finished yet," Gaz reminded him. The sibling was wearing more dignified attire, a medieval-ish garb. She wore an elegant black and green dress that was cut to the fashion of that time. Her magenta hair was intricately tied behind her head and accompanied with little ribbons and beads. She even had one of those spiffy masks on a rod, which covered about half of her face.  
  
A discouraged sigh escaped from Dib. "I cannot believe I have to undergo two days without my trench coat."  
  
"You shall live," his sister scoffed. Nearing the skool, Gaz glanced ahead to see a swarm of students gathering at the entrance to the building.  
  
"I think I will wait for a little while until that crowd thins," Dib announced. Gaz nodded her head and proceeded to encounter the mob of children.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
Zim impatiently tapped a finger on his arm. He stood with his arm crossed inside the skool next to the front entrance. The Invader knew Gaz would arrive soon with her brother, and his military training would enable him to see her come in despite the large crowd. He had researched some human chivalrous acts that men usually performed for females who they cared about. Knowing better than to become anxious, Zim was still a bit eager to try his hand at carrying books and walking Gaz to class.  
  
That was love after all, was it not?  
  
Gaz pushed her way through the doors to the skool, only to spy an impetuous alien dressed in blue and silk pajamas and standing by the wall closest to her. "Urgh," she groaned and rolled her eyes, for she did not feel like meeting Zim at the moment to see more of his lousy attempts at proving his love. The girl raised her mask to cover her face, but it was apparent that Zim could still distinguish her from the other students.  
  
"Hey human," Zim frowned as he grabbed Gaz by the arm and yanked her over to where he was standing. "Do you know when the Gaz gets here?"  
  
The Membrane daughter glared at the alien from behind the concealing mask. "The Gaz?" she darkly repeated. How dare he call her that to her face? Wait, he could not clearly see her face.....  
  
"Yes," he sternly answered, "I do not have time for repeating silly questions. Do you or do you not know when she will be here?" he interrogated.  
  
"Are you seriously asking me about Gaz?" she decisively questioned. 'If he honestly could not decipher who I am,' she mentally planned. The girl's brain began plotting; poor, poor, doomed Zim.  
  
"Yes, I am seriously asking you about Gaz," the alien aggressively repeated. "Am I wasting my superior time?"  
  
"No, you are not. You must be the pathetic individual who planted those sticky notes everywhere yesterday. Yes?"  
  
The question distracted Zim from his previous inquiry. He slowly nodded his head affirmatively. "Why do you ask this, beast-girl?"  
  
"So you would know who actually wrote the poems, yes?" Gaz could not help but grin behind her façade. "I desire to seek this poor sap and help to cure him of his hapless 'feelings'."  
  
The pajama-clad boy raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "I am that sap! I mean, I am him," Zim replied. He could not see Gaz's evil smirk from behind her mask.  
  
"Oh, no, you could not be the author. I am looking for some one who is in love with Gaz. You cannot be the one who is ill fatedly in love."  
  
Zim crossly frowned. "I can assure you that I am." When the disguised Gaz solemnly shook her head, the alien burst, "I am a disgustingly putrid -human- boy who is madly in love with a desirable human girl!"  
  
'Did he say '-desirable- human girl'?' Gaz internally wondered. "Well, you must be the pitiable person I sought. Please, allow me to help you with your sickness of love."  
  
Zim paused in doubt. He wanted to love Gaz, and he wanted her to love him in return, but what if she could not? The mighty Zim could not stand to be -rejected-! No, it could not be possible for the grand Zim to be unwanted.  
  
"Fine," the olive-tinted creature simply answered.  
  
From the corner of her eye, Gaz could see her brother entering the skool building. If he greeted her, Zim could not be so daft as to remain ignorant of her identity! "Good then! I have to go to class now, so meet me at lunch next to the makeshift stage, and I shall heal you of your affliction of love," she quickly spoke. "Farewell for now!" she said and hastily departed.  
  
With her exit, Dib immediately arrived at the location that Zim was positioning himself at. "Hello spaceman," the human leered.  
  
"Formal greetings to you, Dib-ape."  
  
"Thank you for revealing to me that -aliens- like to wear -human- pajamas," Dib triumphantly smiled.  
  
"A costume is nothing more than a costume," the rival shot. With a blink of awareness, he spoke louder, "except when you are an averagely ordinary person!"  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
Lex started blowing bubbles into her toxic chocolate milk. Dressing-Up Day was rather dull for her. Two threatening upperclassmen had tagged her that morning, but no one seemed to notice since some students had voluntarily adorned wilder garments than her. Lunch was no more interesting than the morning.  
  
"Hi," a somewhat familiar voice greeted. "W-would you mind if I sat here?"  
  
Lex raised her line of vision from her lethal lunch to the boy who helped her yesterday. "D-Dib?" she stuttered as her cheeks lightly pinked. "Oh, yes, y-you can-sit," yielding to her loss of speech, she used her hand to indicate for him to sit by her.  
  
Dib's actions perplexed the boy. Why did he actually approach Lex? Was that really he who confronted a girl? "So, how are you faring today?" was this really Dib starting a conversation practically with a stranger? Why are there so many questions?  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
"Wow, Dib does not even look that comfortable when he talks to me," from across the cafeteria, Gaz marveled at the openness in which he acted with Lex. "Of course, it is not as if I -want- him to be at ease." She noticed Zim walking towards her, and she pretended to study his movement judgment. The alien saw this, and self-consciously walked with uncertainty.  
  
"Well?" the Invader hastily asked upon arriving within seven feet of the masked Gaz. He obviously despised being unsure of himself. 'This 'love' may be worse than she told me,' the extraterrestrial pondered.  
  
"You are perceptively in love," Gaz stalled by stating what was already clear. "Come, pretend that I am Gaz. What would you say to me right now?"  
  
Without a second of indecision, Zim proudly smiled and answered, "I would declare my undying feelings for you. I would ask that you return them to me, and then you would equal my adoration. We would carry on to enjoy what every normal pair evidently does; and walk hand in hand, execute rituals of togetherness on 'dats'-I mean-'dates', and fulfill all those other love-y- activities."  
  
Gaz unintentionally took a deep breath. How disillusioned could he be? The stupid media or something probably misinformed him to believe in false ideas about the gentler emotions. "Where do I begin?" she grumpily muttered.  
  
"At the beginning," Zim brilliantly responded.  
  
"Right," Gaz rolled her eyes; it might have been a good thing that Zim could not see that. "So, why do you declare you 'undying feelings' for me? Can you be so sure that you possess those feelings?"  
  
"Of course I am sure, Zim is always sure," he confidently grinned.  
  
"So declare it."  
  
"'Gaz', I love you from the bottom of my liver! Do you love me too?"  
  
"You use the word 'love' too meaninglessly," Gaz curtly answered. "I do not love you, and I hope that I never have to lay my eyes on you or your liver again."  
  
Zim gasped in horror. "Gaz would never refuse me, my love, or my liver!"  
  
'Does he even have a liver?' Gas asked herself in her head. 'And where did liver come from?' She shook her head to clear the question from her mind. "Remember, I am playing the role of your Gaz, and I do not want to love you."  
  
"But-why not?" a stupefied Zim demanded.  
  
"Because you are not the perfect being. You have many faults that I do not want to tolerate, and so I refuse to bear them. You are too proud and you are too ignorant, I refuse to blindly accept your empty claims of adoration." Gaz paused to let this sink in. Zim listened very closely to this girl who promised to help him, only to receive strikes against his character that he found to be true. His overbearing attitude had subsided a bit from the time when he initially lived on Earth, but he was often eccentric. He had to understand that; and he seemed to be doing so. "How does that make you feel?"  
  
Zim balled and released his fists as he tried to find a word that accurately described his thoughts. "I do not like that," was all he could conclude.  
  
"Well, let us try a different approach. Swear your love to me again."  
  
"I do not think I can the same way I did before," Zim lamented. "But," the determined Zim decided to try, "Gaz, I love you, will you accept me?"  
  
"With all of my -heart- and liver!" The response brightened Zim's disheartened expression.  
  
"Really?" he passively asked.  
  
"Yes! I think we are soul mates, and I believe we should be married!" Zim smiled. He had researched marriages, and he looked forward to matching himself with Gaz in such a permanent manner. Gaz looked at the stage, to see a crew of people working on a machine on the platform. She called for the attention of one of the people. "Will you mock-marry us?" The confused man nodded his head. "Good!"  
  
Zim and the disguised Gaz were 'married' by the crewman. Within the two minutes, Zim was looking much happier than he did when he was rejected. "Now," Gaz spoke, "I am your wife." She hunched over to ruin her posture, and tried her best to show Zim that she was scowling from behind her mask.  
  
"Why do you look so irritable? I do not want my wife to be so unpleasant!" Zim proclaimed.  
  
"You have no control over this, neither do I," Gaz stated. "I will not be perfect all of the time, I will possess different moods at different times. I may worship you one day, and be cantankerous the next. If you really love me, than you will tolerate my faults, just like I will stand with yours."  
  
Zim was once again appalled. "Will Gaz really be so unpredictable? Can she really change to such varying and ugly dispositions?"  
  
His teacher nodded her head with seriousness. "She will do what I do. She will be like me."  
  
This was too horrendous to Zim. "I-I need to go eat my lunch," he lied. 'I need to think about this,' he told himself.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
"Okay kiddies! Since it is Homecoming, there will be activities during the lunchtimes! Is that not stupendous?" a cheery teacher chirped into a microphone on the stage by the cafeteria. It was actually not much of a stage, more of a large chunk of raised floor that was carpeted. For the purposes of lunchtime activities, however, it was a theatre.  
  
"Activities during lunch? Why was there nothing yesterday?" Dib curiously asked from his seat.  
  
"Remember the hats?" Lex recalled. Acquiring understanding, Dib tossed his head back with a soft "ah" and resumed listening to the happy teacher onstage.  
  
"Today's fun is karaoke!" Roughly two hundred faces paled at the announcement. "Anyone can come to the stage, select a song, and sign-up! Youpi!" Having told that, she bounced off of the stage.  
  
Dib turned to look at Lex. The girl appeared as if her head had floated to another planet. He slightly blushed as he spoke, "so, uhm, are you going to sing? I might."  
  
She snapped back to attention. "Oh, yes! Come, how about we go and sign- up now before it is too late!" With determination, she snatched Dib's hand and led him to the stage.  
  
When they reached their destination, Lex did not leg go of Dib's hand. The flustered boy could not hide his rosy cheeks. 'I cannot believe s-she is actually holding my hand!' he thought.  
  
'I cannot believe I am holding his precious hand. And his is allowing me to!' Lex internally blushed.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
"Okay! Our first little star is...Zi-Zirn? What is this?"  
  
"I am ZIM!" the distinguished creatures shouted. He marched to the stage from his nearby seat in the cafeteria. Gaz closely watched the alien as he lowered the microphone to his four-foot eight-inch body. He was a little short, but unfamiliarity of Earth's properties stretched Zim's body to the point in which he was almost the same height as the majority of the students. As she stared at him, she wondered if Zim still felt strongly about her after she had destroyed his idealistic beliefs. After all that time, she did destroy him. Or, at least, she might have.  
  
"Okay," Zim announced as he readied himself. "This is 'Gravity of Love' by Enigma."  
  
A gentle chanting emerged from silence. A deep heartbeat slowly pounded and grew in strength. A bell chimed on after every few beats. This was Zim's cue to sing.  
  
"Turn around and smell what you don't see  
  
Close your eyes...it is so clear."  
  
His voice was surprisingly lower than usual, and his singing tone was extremely melodic and soothing with the underlying music.  
  
"Here's the mirror, behind there is a screen  
  
On both ways you can get in."  
  
A burst of music flowingly expanded.  
  
"Don't think twice before you listen to your heart  
  
Follow the trace for a new start."  
  
A drum joined the low beat to move the motion of the previously slow song.  
  
"What you need and everything you'll feel  
  
Is just a question of the deal.  
  
Another accented beat, and Zim raised his voice to express a more profound sound.  
  
"In the eye of the storm you'll see a lonely dove."  
  
Zim once again freed his voice to increase the impact of the coming theme.  
  
"The experience of survival is the key  
  
To the gravity of love."  
  
As Zim paused the music played a short break. The drumbeat strengthened and the opening chorus chanted the melody. While the singers chanted, Zim gently spoke the next lines.  
  
"The path of excess leads to the tower of wisdom"  
  
The machine repeated the line, and Zim resumed his passionate singing.  
  
"Try to think about it...  
  
That's the chance to live your life and discover  
  
What it is, what's the gravity of love."  
  
The chanting and chorus sang their emphasis of the line. When the voiced quieted, a solo guitar played a melody that led to Zim's passionate reentrance.  
  
"Look around just people, can you hear their voice  
  
Find the one who'll guide you to the limits of your choice."  
  
With a rising climax, Zim searched for Gaz in the audience, but did not let the strength of his song subside when he failed to find her. His target smiled behind the mask she still adorned. He was appealing to her. He did care about her.  
  
"But if you're in the eye of the storm  
  
Just think of the lonely dove  
  
The experience of survival is the key  
  
To the gravity of love."  
  
The drums and chorus fulfilled their part with more power than all previous times. After the machine's recorded assembly finished their chanting, the drums continued, and then abruptly stopped. Everyone in the cafeteria was a bit overwhelmed by the power of the piece and Zim's input. It was undoubtedly a great and powerful song, but it may have been too heavy for the lunchtime children. Gaz was uncharacteristically joyful. She had declared to herself that she did share feelings for Zim, and his turn on the karaoke machine proved to her that her warnings did not mar his sentiments for her.  
  
She jumped back into reality when she saw that her brother was nervously standing on the stage. He fiddled with the microphone, trying to readjust it from Zim's inferior height. "All right," he sighed when he was finally satisfied with the positioning. "This is 'Precious Illusions'." Dib took a quick breath and sang when he saw that the karaoke machine started to play. A lone guitar played a simple chord as he meekly sang.  
  
"You'll rescue me right?  
  
In the exact same way they never did  
  
I'll be happy right?  
  
When your healing powers kick in."  
  
Dib was terrified; he was opening himself before hundreds of students who probably could not care less what he did on the stage. He was relieved to receive help when a soft but involved drum faintly accompanied the next lines.  
  
"You'll complete me right?  
  
Then my life can finally begin  
  
I'll be worth it right?  
  
Only when you realize the gem I am."  
  
Music burst into full mode as Dib glanced at Lex and continued to sing. The song was moving too fast for him to worry about singing in public. He focused his attention on the task at hand. Sing for Lex.  
  
"But this won't work now the way it once did  
  
And I won't keep it up even though I would love to  
  
Once I know who I'm not then I'll know who I am  
  
But I know I won't keep on playing the victim."  
  
Dib was backed more by the supporting instruments in the machine, and his confidence grew considerably. People seemed relieved to hear a long lighter than Zim's introducing one, and Dib could sense the acceptance. With more strength in his voice, he continued.  
  
"These precious illusions in my head  
  
Did not let me down when I was defenseless  
  
And parting with them is like  
  
Parting with invisible best friends."  
  
The background music softened a little to allow Dib to be singing more solo, but he did not mind the isolation now. He smiled despite himself as a few people tapped their feet.  
  
"This ring will help me yet as will you knight in shining armor  
  
This thing will help me yet as will these ones gone through like water."  
  
The guitar and drums increased, but Dib no longer cared what the music did. He was having fun singing. One or two people started to dance in the back of the cafeteria; but he only saw Lex gleefully smiling at him.  
  
"But this won't work now the way it once did  
  
Cuz I want to decide between survival and bliss  
  
And though I know who I'm not  
  
I still don't know who I am  
  
But I know I won't keep on playing the victim."  
  
More people were clearly keeping in time with the beat and listened to Dib's light singing voice. It was a nice pitch for singing to mesh well with Alanis Morrisettes's music. His male voice was a bit deeper, but it worked well enough.  
  
"These precious illusions in my head  
  
Did not let me down when I was a kid  
  
And parting with them is like  
  
Parting with a childhood best friend."  
  
He paused to prepare for the closing lines. He completely opened and sang from the heart.  
  
"I've spent so much time firmly looking outside me  
  
I've spent so much time living in survival mode."  
  
The music dropped to leave Dib with the light guitar and drum from the beginning. He released the microphone and sang into the technology.  
  
"But this won't work now the way it once did  
  
Cuz I want to decide between survival and bliss  
  
And though I know who I'm not  
  
I still don't know who I am  
  
But I know I won't keep on playing the victim."  
  
The instruments once more joined him and played stronger than before. But this more confident Dib would not be drowned by the music. He built his voice to sing the ending.  
  
"These precious illusions in my head  
  
Did not let me down when I was defenseless  
  
And parting with them is like  
  
Parting with invisible best friends."  
  
Dib repeated the second chorus. As the music continued, he sang a few long notes, and took a deep breath as the music fainted into silence. At the conclusion of the piece, almost everyone in the room clapped and some even cheered for Dib. He was flabbergasted at the amount of positive attention. He did not even receive many 'thank you' s from people about the Hatsy Day incident, but he was openly applauded for singing an enjoyable song. Well, that is how the world spins. Maybe even Irk?  
  
When he returned to his seat next to Lex, he saw that she was happy yet also a little anxious. "Is something wrong?" he asked with concern.  
  
"Oh, no," she reacted, with honest enthusiasm she added, "you were wonderful there!"  
  
Once again, Dib found himself blushing. "Thank you. But is something troubling you?"  
  
It was then Lex's turn to redden. "No, I just, I am afraid that I will look pretty silly when I go sing now."  
  
"Do not worry. I think you will sound beautiful, no matter what anyone else thinks," Dib honestly stated. He blinked at his words. "D-did I really--?" with the boy's stammering; it was clear that self-esteem could be fairly unpredictable.  
  
Lex leaned forward and gave Dib a light peck on his cheek. "Thank you," she softly said as her cheeks turned a light rosy color. She climbed onto the stage and swept her gaze over the audience. Many of the faces were anticipating a song matching Dib's, as many students could see that Dib and Lex seemed to like each other. There were one or two faces covered by the masks of costumes, and one sad-looking green kid played with his lunch. Lex lightly shrugged; maybe her singing would not offend the already cheerful people.  
  
Not needing to adjust the microphone, Lex leapt into her turn and said, "This is 'Things I'll Never Say'."  
  
A regular guitar strummed a positive introduction with a tapping of a drum. Lex sang some liberated notes to start the mood of the piece. With a milder cue, Lex began to sing the lyrics.  
  
"I'm tugging at my hair  
  
I'm pulling at my clothes  
  
I'm trying to keep my cool  
  
I know it shows  
  
I'm staring at my feet  
  
My cheeks are turning red  
  
I'm searching for the words inside my head  
  
The music supporting her was rather simple. A drum kept the beat for her, and a guitar provided a light harmony. Lex possessed a rather simple singing voice. It was smoother than her speaking voice, and of a somewhat high pitch. She sounded a lot like Avril Lavigne, who performed the song. The background music mostly stayed the same as she moved into the pre- chorus.  
  
'Cause I'm feeling nervous  
  
Trying to be so perfect  
  
'Cause I know you're worth it  
  
You're worth it  
  
Yeah."  
  
The guitars that were once passive, then mildly exploded with supporting sound. Like Dib, Lex was able to relax a bit. She pretended that she was Avril Lavigne, who was truly connected with this song. She imagined she had sung this before thousands of people on many occasions. The thoughts comforted her, and enabled her to sound better as she sang the stronger chorus.  
  
"If I could say what I wanted to say  
  
I'd say I want to blow you ...away  
  
Be with you every night  
  
Am I squeezing you too tight  
  
If I could say what I wanted to see  
  
I want to see you go down  
  
On one knee  
  
Marry me today  
  
Yes, I'm wishing my life away  
  
With these things I'll never say."  
  
The guitar played a short musical break, and Lex mentally prepared herself for the next part. Why could she not sing as comfortably as Dib? He was such an idol.  
  
"It don't do me any good  
  
It's just a waste of time  
  
What use is it to you  
  
What's on my mind  
  
If it ain't coming out  
  
We're not going anywhere  
  
So why can't I just tell you that I care"  
  
Lex's mind disconnected as she instinctively sang the pre-chorus and chorus again. People could easily tell that she was not as calm singing as Dib was. She wished he could come and sing the rest of the song for her. On the other hand, what would that do? She wanted to sing for Dib. She wanted to tell him that she cared about him without having to stress over finding the right way to tell him. Why was she failing now? This was for him, why should her fears ruin this? By the time the chorus was finished, she was ready to sing with her soul.  
  
"What's wrong with my tongue?  
  
These words keep slipping away  
  
I stutter, I stumble  
  
Like I've got nothing to say."  
  
Since the pre-chorus was now familiar to her, she took the opportunity to center her attention on Dib. The audience, and especially her focus could tell that she was feeling better onstage. She repeated the random notes that opened the song, except now they were stronger and truly sung with an open spirit.  
  
"Yes I'm wishing my life away  
  
With these things I'll never say.  
  
If I could say what I wanted to say  
  
I'd say I want to blow you ...away  
  
Be with you every night  
  
Am I squeezing you too tight  
  
If I could say what I want to see  
  
I want to see you go down  
  
On one knee  
  
Marry me today  
  
Yes, I'm wishing my life away"  
  
The guitars, drums, and other instruments backed away, but Lex still sang with the same strength and emotion as she pretended that only Dib was present.  
  
"With these things I'll never say  
  
These things I'll never say."  
  
At the conclusion of the song, Lex promptly leapt off of the stage and retreated to her seat adjacent to Dib. He smiled at her as she stared at the ground. "You sang well," he timidly comforted. Not knowing how to respond to his kindness, Lex leaned into Dib and rested her head on his shoulder. She felt comfortably there, and decided against moving if the boy would let her remain there. Dib mildly blushed and gently tilted his head so it rested on her head without burdening her with any pressure.  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
Zim softly growled in dismay at the human couple of Dib and Lex. How could they be so happy when his efforts for Gaz failed miserably? Perhaps the sticky notes were not true expressions of love, but his karaoke song was completely different! "Sons of Irk," he muttered to himself, "I am trusting my ardor to be expressed with sticky notes and karaoke songs."  
  
"Okaly-dokaly," the insanely cheerful teacher from before sung into the microphone. "Next to go is, Gaz."  
  
"Gaz?" Zim was startled into attention. He zealously looked for her, but she still was not in his sight. Suddenly, the girl in the big dress who he spoke to earlier stood and gracefully walked to the stage. She reached the microphone and lowered her little mask to reveal her face. Zim sat astonished at this revelation. In a very rare moment, words failed the green alien, and he stayed in his position, utterly stupefied.  
  
"You Look So Fine," Gaz knowingly recited the song title.  
  
A recorded piano gently played a repeated tune while a soft beating sound pounded in the background. Gaz inhaled and prepared to sing.  
  
"You look so fine."  
  
A drum provided a gentle beat to fill the pause between the verses. Gaz's singing voice was beautifully velvety as she vocalized the slow and deep notes.  
  
"I want to break you heart  
  
And give you mine.  
  
You're taking me over."  
  
Through her squinted eyes, Zim could see that the singer was looking at him, watching him. The song seemed as intense as his was, but others appeared to be more open to this one. A few people were already tapping feet and fingers to the beat of the drum.  
  
"It's all the same  
  
You've got me securely maintained.  
  
I hear your name  
  
And I'm falling over.  
  
The previously serious music brightened a bit for a higher pitch, and Gaz expertly ready to flow with the song.  
  
"I'm not like all the other girls  
  
I can't take it like the other girls  
  
I won't share it like the other girls  
  
That you used to know."  
  
Students were not sure if they could dance to the slow song, but they sub- consciously swayed to the music in pure enjoyment.  
  
"You look so fine."  
  
Gaz held the last note, 'fine', for a while, and a handful of people applauded for the strength with which she sang the essential note. The music raised and Gaz sang with a growing passion.  
  
"Knocked down, cried out  
  
Been down just to find out.  
  
I'm through  
  
Looking for you."  
  
The music calmed, as the flow resumed to the same manner as the opening.  
  
"I'm open wide  
  
I want to take you home  
  
We'll waste some time.  
  
You're the only one for me."  
  
Zim faltered under Gaz's stare. He could feel that even with her mostly closed eyes, she was looking into him. Her concentration was so intense, he felt as though she was peering into his very essence. Could she mean that: He was the only one for her?  
  
"You look so fine.  
  
I'm like the desert tonight,  
  
Leave her behind,  
  
If you want to show me.  
  
The music climbed for the final time, as Gaz released her voice to climactically sing. Everyone was either swaying to the melody, tapping with the rhythm, or on his or her feet dancing. Everyone, that is, except Zim, who could only manage to sit mesmerized by the only human who could sincerely astound him.  
  
"I'm not like  
  
I won't take it like  
  
I won't fake it like  
  
That you used to know."  
  
Gaz paused for a brief musical break. She took the opportunity to smile at Zim. It was more of a faint upward curling of her lips, but it was as affective as the broadest beam to Zim. With an honesty that she could not hide, she concluded her turn on the karaoke machine.  
  
"You're taking me over  
  
Over and over  
  
I'm falling over  
  
Over and over."  
  
She repeated 'over and over' until the music dwindled to an end, the machine preserved a woman's voice singing repeated lines about 'let's pretend' and 'happy end', but she did not concentrate on that. She could only see Zim. For the first time in all of Dressing-Up Day, Zim could not only see the face of Gaz, but that was all his focus could note. As the two gazed at one another, Zim asked himself in a soft whisper, "does this mean...? Could this possibly mean...?"  
  
OeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeO  
  
What an...interesting conclusion to Tuesday! I hope no one is grossed by the mushiness of this chapter, but you -knew- there would be romance (even if I am bad at writing it)! Ahem, anyways, I hope this chapter was enjoyable! I realize this has been an incredibly long chapter, but a lot of it consists of lyrics anyway. Lastly, if you have any comments, I would be more than happy to hear them! If you have any questions, like 'why is a liver mentioned?' or 'where did Zim get the idea to wear pajamas when he was rubbing his chin over a mongoose?' or 'will you ever give Dib a break with his clothes?!' or 'what is homecoming?' or even 'why did you make Zim and Dib sing songs that -female- singers perform?', I would be more than joyful to answer that ^_^ Now for credits with the music, I shall try to include everything that my little brain can.  
  
"Gravity of Love" is by Enigma. I think Sandra Cretu sings it, and it is copyrighted in 1999 to 'Virgin Schallplatten GmbH, under exclusive license to Virgin Records America, Inc.', whatever that means.  
  
"Precious Illusions" is by Alanis Morissette. She sings and writes this material, the mind-boggling genius. She produced the CD it is on as well. It appears to be copyrighted in 2002 by Maverick Recording Company; the lucky, lucky folks.  
  
"Things I'll Never Say" is by Avril Lavigne. Since I do not actually own the CD it is on, -I have no idea what else to say about it-. I can admit that -I- have nothing to do with its ownership, is that enough?  
  
And last but -not- least, "You Look So Fine" is by Garbage. I praise Shirley Manson for singing it and everything else she has done for the group. I see that it was copyrighted in 1998 to Almo Sounds, Inc. 


End file.
